Rail transport: new agreement to accelerate
deployment of the European Railway Traffic Management System (ERTMS)

The European Commission and the rail industry
(manufacturers, infrastructure managers and undertakings) today signed a
memorandum of understanding in Rome aimed at accelerating deployment of the
European Rail Traffic Management System (ERMTS) throughout Europe. Deployment of
ERTMS, which is equally suited to high-speed and conventional railway lines,
will enable trains to carry a single signalling system on board. This new
European concept will reduce operating costs and enhance the efficiency of the
system.

“ERTMS is a major industrial project being implemented by Europe.
It is essential for improving the competitiveness and safety of the rail system
and, therefore, for making rail transport more attractive to users. The
memorandum of understanding signed today marks an important stage in the
deployment of ERTMS,” stated Mr Tajani, Commission Vice-President
responsible for transport.

ERTMS can succeed only if, on the one hand, there is full technical
compatibility between the tens of thousands of kilometres of track and the
trains to be equipped and, on the other, deployment is carried out swiftly and
in a coordinated manner. Failing to equip just one kilometre of a route can
seriously jeopardise the competitiveness of rail transport on the entire
route.

The memorandum of understanding signed today is aimed at addressing these two
fundamental issues, mainly by:

using a single technical
baseline[1] for all railway
lines equipped with ERTMS in the European Union up to the end of 2012;

getting manufacturers to agree to include software updates in new contracts
at a client’s request. Clients (rail companies and infrastructure
managers) currently complain about the excessive costs imposed by
manufacturers;

agreeing on a programme enabling a new version of the
specifications[2] to be drawn
up by the end of 2012 in such a manner that trains equipped with this new
version can run on lines equipped with the old version;

improving and harmonising test procedures for checking the compatibility
and compliance of equipment;

accelerating deployment of ERTMS, particularly by adopting a binding
European plan and equipping new models of engine.

In the autumn the
Commission will present a draft of this binding European deployment plan and at
the beginning of 2009 will publish a new call for proposals amounting to around
€250 million to provide financial support for the deployment of the system
from the trans-European transport networks budget. Deployment of ERTMS on
infrastructure is also eligible for financial support from the Regional Fund and
the Cohesion Fund.

Background

Over twenty different signalling systems currently coexist on railway lines
in Europe. For instance, the seven signalling systems installed on the
high-speed Thalys train plying between Paris and Brussels increase the risk of
breakdowns and generate extra costs. These costs are such that engines do not
generally cross frontiers.

The ERTMS concept is simple: information is transmitted from the track to the
train, where an on-board computer uses it to calculate the maximum authorised
speed and to slow the train down automatically if necessary. The on-board
computer therefore has to understand the information sent from the ground.

ERTMS can bring about a significant increase in competitiveness. That is
particularly true in the case of freight when the system is deployed in a
coordinated manner along a route and is accompanied by relevant measures, such
as harmonisation of the operating rules or enhancement of the infrastructure if
necessary. On the Rotterdam-Genova corridor, for example, the volume of goods
transported could be doubled by 2020, which would be the equivalent of an
additional heavy goods vehicle passing along this route every 37 seconds.

Around 2 000 km of track is currently in use in the European Union but
contracts already cover almost another 30 000 km, as well as 5 000
vehicles, within Europe and even outside. These contracts consolidate the
European rail industry’s leading position in the world.

In March 2005, the Commission signed a first memorandum of understanding with
the sector with the chief aim of studying the feasibility and economic viability
of deploying ERTMS on major trans-European network routes (see IP/05/321, MEMO
05/235). The rail-freight and high-speed sectors are particularly affected by
this project, which was first developed thanks to a European research programme,
and then funded from the trans-European network budget.